David Wells - Linkershim

“So … tell me, Princess, how does it feel to hold the fate of the world in your hands?”

Lacy looked at him without responding.

Good, Isabel thought, continuing to eat.

“Surely, you of all people understand that Zuhl is unstoppable,” Phane said.

Lacy seemed ready to speak but held her tongue at the last moment.

Isabel picked up a roasted bird leg and took a big bite.

“His army is beyond us all,” Phane said. “But you could defeat him … right now … and it wouldn’t cost you a thing. In fact, I would defend Fellenden with all of my power and name your family Protectors of the Realm. You cannot hope to do better.”

Isabel stopped eating, looking pointedly at Lacy.

She gritted her teeth, leaning toward Isabel. “I know,” she said, then turned back to Phane.

“I’m not going to open that box. Not later today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

Isabel nodded to herself, taking another bite from her roasted bird leg.

“We’ll see,” Phane said. “You are of secondary importance right now. Watch and learn who I am and what I have to offer … then make your decision.”

“Do I really have a choice?” Lacy asked.

“No,” Phane said, “not really.”

“Then out with it,” Lacy said. “What do you want?”

“I want my birthright, just as I imagine you want yours,” Phane said. “You are a princess, noble by blood, and that deserves respect-respect that I’m willing to pay … provided that you recognize me as the rightful Reishi Sovereign. Only together can we stand against Zuhl.”

Lacy sat stone-still, almost charmed by Phane’s words until Wren started giggling under her breath, dispelling his carefully woven lie with simple incredulity, sending him stomping away from the table with the box and leaving the three of them laughing under their breath.

Isabel knew that their little victory would come at a cost, but she relished it just the same. “We won’t have much time,” she said. “I hope you’re serious about that box. If you open it, the world will die.”

“I know-I’ll never open that box,” Lacy said, “but Phane has other ways of getting inside it.”

“Indeed I do,” he said, sauntering back into the room from his Wizard’s Den without any hint of ire. He sat back down and refilled his flagon with wine.

“Let’s talk about power, shall we?” he said, holding up the slaver’s ring on his finger and tapping it gently. Lacy and Wren both began to choke, struggling to breathe while Phane watched them like bugs in a jar.

“Stop it!” Isabel said.

Phane tapped the ring again and the collars relaxed, leaving Lacy and Wren gasping and coughing. Phane smiled at their discomfort, waiting patiently for them to regain their composure.

“I own you … both of you belong to me now. I have all of the power and you have none. Obey or suffer. Those are the new terms of your lives. Do you understand?”

They both nodded timidly.

“Excellent,” Phane said. “Now, I’m going to explain the state of the world in the hopes that you, Princess Lacy, will come to see that you’ve picked the wrong side.” He raised his hand to forestall her protest. “Listen before you answer. I rule Karth outright. Andalia is openly loyal to me. Most of the islands of Tyr are under my control. The Ruathan Army is fighting the Lancers to a stalemate and they’re about to be blindsided by Elred Rake from the north-he’ll deliver a crushing blow, I assure you. The tide will turn against Ruatha after that, forcing those loyal to my dear cousin to retreat into Glen Morillian where they will remain.”

Isabel listened to Phane, hoping beyond hope that Alexander was watching, yet knowing that he probably wasn’t.

“Ithilian has been taken by the Sin’Rath, as has your brother,” Phane continued. “You will receive no more support from Abel, and Torin is quite beyond your reach. Zuhl has put his ships to sea with great success, never wavering from his objective of capturing the Iron Oak Forest and Fellenden with it. Your people are battered and broken, most are refugees, scattered and displaced. However this war turns out, they will be impoverished by it.

“I’m going to win, Lacy. I’m going to rule over all of the Seven Isles. Isabel’s faith in her husband is admirable, but what she fails to accept is that Alexander is wearing one of those slave collars around his neck right now as we speak. He’s already lost. It’s too late for him, but it’s not too late for you, or for Fellenden.”

Lacy shook her head.

“I’m offering you salvation, Lacy. You can be the Queen of Fellenden; you can rule as you see fit. You can protect your people from the famine and suffering that will befall them without my help.”

“I’m not going to help you,” Lacy said. “Not ever.”

“Just remember that I offered you every chance,” Phane said, turning away from her as if she no longer existed.

“Wizard Enu’s death was a setback,” he said to Isabel. “His spell to separate you from your will was brilliant. With him gone, I’m left with few options. I could try to create a potion or charm, but the simplest plan would probably be to re-create Enu’s spell.”

“Take your time,” Isabel said.

“Even after all this,” he said, gesturing to the bruising that discolored her entire face and left her eyes puffy, “you insist on being flippant. When are you going to learn to respect me?”

“When you do something worthy of respect,” Isabel said, holding his eyes with hers until he walked away from the table, shaking his head.

“I suppose I could always send an assassin to kill the fairy,” he mused.

“What makes you think you’ll get anywhere near Chloe without Alexander seeing you coming?” Isabel said.

“Not Chloe … what’s her name? The child fairy.”

“Sara?”

“That’s the one.”

“Why? What’s she got to do with any of this?”

Phane laughed at her, shaking his head in disgust as he sat back down and took a long pull from his wine flagon.

“I’m fighting children! None of you have even a basic knowledge of magic … and I even told you how it works.”

“How what works?”

“Your link to the realm of light flows through Sara,” Phane said. “If I kill her, your link goes away and Azugorath will have her way with you.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Isabel said, knowing full well that he certainly would dare if he thought he could get away with it. “Ilona would stop you.”

“Unfortunately, I believe you’re right on that second count,” Phane said. “That leaves Enu’s spell-two, maybe three days lost to re-create it. I was hoping to avoid that.”

Isabel held her tongue while her mind spun. Pieces were starting to fall into place. If killing Sara would close her link to the realm of light, then banishing Rankosi should close her link to the netherworld. She could be free of the darkness … permanently.

There was a way. Not an easy way to be sure, but there was a way.

“This cursed isle is almost totally devoid of wizards,” Phane said. “I had the Andalians send me Enu, and now he’s dead, like most of the others they sent. Understandably, they’re not happy about the situation, but I think I have a solution that will please them.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the shade?” Isabel asked, ignoring his musings.

He frowned for a moment, then smiled. “Not really. He’ll try to take me but he’ll fail. Then he’ll try to kill me, and he’ll fail again. Then, he’ll get frustrated and make a mistake. When he does, I’ll press him into service.”

“How? He’s already in the world. What can you possibly offer him?”

“The shades have unseemly appetites that can be leveraged … but enough about them. I’m trying to explain how thoroughly you’ve already lost this war and how futile your resistance really is.